Russian foreign minister blames US dollar weaponization for undermining the competitive rights of foreign countries

12/31/2023 / By Belle Carter

In a year-end interview with local media outlets, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that people have become weary of the United States dollar (USD) as it has turned out to become an instrument for regime change and interference in other nation’s internal affairs.

“Everyone is already tired of the dollar, which is becoming a tool of influence, a tool for undermining the legitimate competitive rights of countries in different regions, and a tool for interference in internal affairs and regime change,” Lavrov told Rossiya24 and RIA Novosti. He earlier accused the U.S. and its European Union allies of using a wide range of “geopolitical” tools, which include, among other things, “unleashing trade and economic wars.” After they placed sanctions to cut off Russia from the Western financial system and froze its foreign reserves, Moscow and other countries slowly reduced their dependence on Western currencies by switching to alternatives for foreign trade settlements. (Related: END of an ERA: Russian foreign minister declares Western economic dominance is over.)

As he openly critiqued the existing dominance of the dollar, he declared the emergence of a new, fairer global economic system as an inexorable trend. He suggested moving towards a multipolar world, a concept that challenges the existing unipolar system dominated by Western powers. Experts note that the ruble is strengthening as Russia’s central bank plans to conduct currency operations on the domestic foreign exchange market in early January related to replenishment and using reserves from the National Wealth Fund.

After his comments, the Russian ruble rallied against major currencies on Thursday, jumping to its highest against both the dollar and the euro since mid-December, trading data from the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) shows. The ruble had strengthened to 89.30 to the U.S. dollar as of 14:30 GMT.

Meanwhile, Lavrov also emphasized Russia’s intention to foster stronger ties with the ‘global majority,’ which could mean that nations outside the traditional Western sphere of influence could possibly depart from the established norms of international relations and economic alignments. “Lavrov’s statements have given a glimpse into Russia’s strategic roadmap for the future, signaling a possible restructuring of the global economic system. How this will resonate with other nations and what implications it will have on international power dynamics are developments to keenly watch in the coming years,” BNN reported.

As early as September, the foreign minister has been warning about the “unreliability” of the USD in its cross-border trade since the United States does not ensure the global role the greenback plays. He says that they will start boosting the use of local currencies. “We obviously are not developing our line against the U.S., against the West. It’s not that we want to ruin the dollar. The U.S. no longer ensures the dollar’s global role that could satisfy everyone. That’s the problem,” Lavrov told students at the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO) back then.

Lavrov: West to blame for world turmoil

In a separate interview with Tass news agency, Lavrov alleged that Western countries whose dominance is ebbing away are largely responsible for pitching the world into turmoil, adding that no one worldwide could be certain of escaping unscathed from Western machinations in 2024.

“Storms continue in the world and one of the reasons is that the ruling circles in the West provoke crises thousands of kilometers from their borders to resolve their own issues at the expense of other peoples,” Tass quoted Lavrov as saying in extracts released ahead of full publication. “It can be said that given conditions in which the West is clinging to the domination slipping away from it, no one can be protected against its geopolitical intrigues. There is a growing understanding of this.” He further said that Moscow’s war in Ukraine is an existential struggle against the “collective West” resolved to expand the reach of NATO and inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia. He also believes that the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East is a result of the longstanding failures of U.S. foreign policy.

The minister called for the de-escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict, denouncing as “unacceptable” both acts of terror and “collective punishment.” “It is vital to break the vicious cycle of violence and do away with the injustice from which several generations of Palestinians have suffered,” he said. He also reiterated that Ukraine was unwilling to hold peace talks to end the 22-month-old conflict. “I must note an absence of any will for peace on the part of the regime of Zelensky,” Lavrov said adding that the Ukrainian president’s representatives think only in categories of war and resort to totally aggressive rhetoric. “There is no consideration of holding peace talks … Draw your own conclusions,” he stated.

Check out DollarDemise.com to learn more about how the USD is starting to lose its dominance in the world trade.